A few months ago, I posted about a list making its way around the internet through various social networking sites and blogs. This list contained one hundred books; apparently the BBC determined the average adult has only read six of the one hundred books listed. What I couldn't figure out is exactly how the list came about- the books were so varied from one another that is was difficult to determine the criteria for admittance to this list.
I did some more research and found out more about the BBC Big Read, which differs from the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read here in the States. In 2003, the BBC (oh, how I love thee) began its search for the nation's (meaning Great Britain) best-loved novel and asked for patrons to nominate their favourites (because they did indeed ask for 'favourites' and not 'favorites', being British and all). By the end, over three quarters of a millon votes were received, and The Lord of the Rings officially became the best-loved novel of the British people. You can see the list of the top two hundred novels here.
This list differs somewhat from the list I posted about before. I never could find out where that list originated, so if you happen to determine the source, please let me know. At any rate, I thought I would post the correct top one hundred novels from the BBC's Big Read for you today. I used the same system as with the previous list, bolding the books I've completed and starring those I am currently reading or have partially read. Which do you think is the better of the two lists?
1 The Lord of the Rings* by JRR Tolkien
2 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3 His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
4 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
5 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
6 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7 Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
8 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
9 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
10 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
11 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
12 Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
13 Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
14 Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
15 The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
16 The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
17 Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
18 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
19 Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
20 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
21 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
22 Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling
23 Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by JK Rowling
24 Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban by JK Rowling
25 The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
26 Tess Of The D'Urbervilles* by Thomas Hardy
27 Middlemarch by George Eliot
28 A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving
29 The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck
30 Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
31 The Story Of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson
32 One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
33 The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett
34 David Copperfield* by Charles Dickens
35 Charlie And The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
36 Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
37 A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
38 Persuasion by Jane Austen
39 Dune by Frank Herbert
40 Emma by Jane Austen
41 Anne Of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
42 Watership Down by Richard Adams
43 The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
44 The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
45 Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
46 Animal Farm by George Orwell
47 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
48 Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
49 Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
50 The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
51 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
52 Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck
53 The Stand by Stephen King
54 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
55 A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
56 The BFG by Roald Dahl
57 Swallows And Amazonsby Arthur Ransome
58 Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
59 Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
60 Crime And Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61 Noughts And Crosses by Malorie Blackman
62 Memoirs Of A Geisha by Arthur Golden
63 A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
64 The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCollough
65 Mort by Terry Pratchett
66 The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
67 The Magus by John Fowles
68 Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69 Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
70 Lord Of The Flies by William Golding
71 Perfume by Patrick Süskind
72 The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
73 Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
74 Matilda by Roald Dahl
75 Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
76 The Secret History by Donna Tartt
77 The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins
78 Ulysses by James Joyce
79 Bleak House by Charles Dickens
80 Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson
81 The Twits by Roald Dahl
82 I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith
83 Holes by Louis Sachar
84 Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
85 The God Of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
86 Vicky Angel by Jacqueline Wilson
87 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
88 Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
89 Magician by Raymond E Feist
90 On The Road by Jack Kerouac
91 The Godfather by Mario Puzo
92 The Clan Of The Cave Bear by Jean M Auel
93 The Colour Of Magic by Terry Pratchett
94 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
95 Katherine by Anya Seton
96 Kane And Abel by Jeffrey Archer
97 Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
98 Girls In Love by Jacqueline Wilson
99 The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
100 Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Honestly, there were a lot more of novels on this list that I haven't heard of before, and I don't know how the voting process worked from beginning to end. There seem to be quite a few children's books on the list as well, so if the BBC determined any qualifications or particulars for a book to make it to the list, I'm not sure. I wonder if we did a project like this in the States, what would be our nation's favorite novels?
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3 comments:
I get the feeling that they appreciate the well written children's book over there more than we do here. It is hard to compare the two lists because they are so different. In some ways the BBC one has more "fun" books on it, which is nice, but I enjoy being challenged to read some "classics" that I might not get to because they are on the other list (and you know I can't pass up a challenge like a reading list!) I say we just read both lists! :)
I too noticed more books that I wasn't familiar with. I'm a big fan of a good children's book, so I think it's neat that they are included. Once upon a time there was no such thing as a children's book; a story was a story.
I noticed "A Prayer for Owen Meany" on the Brit list and since it isn't starred or bold on your list I assume you haven't read it, so I wanted to take a minute to recommend it. It's my favorite modern novel and I read it at least once a year, very good stuff (in my opinion)! The children's books on the list have me looking forward to an upcoming J-term course I will be taking, "Children's Literature in Faith and Life." Have a great day!
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